Charmed is owned by Spelling Entertainment and Warner Brother's Television.
Certain spell text borrowed from the television show. However, since no money is
being made by this tale, I don't feel horrible about borrowing anything.

Drake looked into Dean's eyes and saw the sorrow in them. He let go of Aaron and gripped his cousins hand as he shimmered them back to Halliwell Manor. He sobbed the entire time. He had no intention of fighting anything if he couldn't save Aaron. The sooner everyone understood that the better.

Jason, Gregory and Damon orbed in seconds after Drake and Dean arrived. Drake collapsed into Deans arms as sobs wracked his body. This was Hell, and he wanted out. He had to find a way to fix this. There had to be a way. He thought of the Book of Shadows, and he hoped that there was something in there that could help him. He let go of Dean and bolted up the stairs. He was half way up the stairs before he shimmered to the attic where they'd placed the book.

He flipped through the pages of the book as soon as he appeared in front of it. Spell after spell he rejected. They wouldn't do what he wanted. He was nearly ready to give up hope of finding a spell that would help when he found exactly what he was looking for. He read the spell and all that it took to cast it.

Crossing the room with the book in his hands, he kneeled in front of the coffee table that sat in front of the couch. There was already a small cauldron there. Bottles of herbs and spell ingredients were sitting there as well. Dean had left them there when he was studying them earlier. Drake put the book down and began to gather what he needed, throwing a pinch of each ingredient the spell called for into the cauldron.

He picked up the athamae and pierced his finger to add the six drops of his blood that were required. Next he went in search of the six white candles he needed. He found them on the shelves on the other side of the room. Back at the table, he placed the candles in a circle around the cauldron and lit each one with matches he'd found next to them on the shelf.

"Let the hands of time turn back. Erase an evil that is so black. Make yesterday today again. Let only I know the where and when," he read out loud and waited for time to reverse.

He cursed when nothing happened, and he read the spell again three times with no results. Crying, he blew out the candles and stood in the center of the attic. There was one more thing that he could try. Dax had killed him. Maybe he could bring him back. He tried to focus his mind on his brother. When he was sure that he had his brother's image in his head, he shimmered.

FourBlast From The Past

"This isn't working," sighed Dean as he held the string that was tied to a crystal over a map of Storyville. Jason and Gregory had told him it was called scrying and that he should be able to locate Drake that way. He'd had no luck.

"Then there's only one other place he can be," said Gregory.

"He wouldn't go there," said Jason, shaking his head. "He couldn't."

"Yes he can," said Gregory. "All he would have to do would be to focus on Dax and shimmer to him. You know that."

"But he's not a demon," insisted Jason.

"You're sure of that now?" Gregory asked, cocking his head to the side. "Earlier you weren't so sure."

"That was before I saw him broken over the death of his lover," replied Jason. "No demon weeps over the loss of an innocent. Drake is not a demon."

"That doesn't change the fact that he is currently in the underworld," Gregory stated flatly.

* * *

"DAX!" Drake cried, throwing energy balls and fireballs at demons as they tried to attack him. Demon after demon burst into flames and vanished as he vanquished each of them. He was searching for his brother. Dax had to be able to undo what he'd done. He had to.

"Well lookie what stepped into the dark to play," said a deep voice that stopped Drake in his tracks. He turned toward the source of that voice and was confronted with the red winged demon that had been with his brother at Halliwell Manor.

"Where is Dax?" demanded Drake.

"Come to vanquish the brother?" the demon hissed, forming a fireball in his hand.

"Ronan, I suggest you release that fireball," said Dax's voice from behind Drake. "Vanquishing my brother is not an option."

"You would side with this witch?" Demanded the demon Drake now knew as Ronan. "He's a charmed one."

"All the more reason not to mess with him," replied Dax. "If he's here, the other two aren't far behind him."

"Fine," spat Ronan. "Mark my words, Dax. Just because this witch happens to be your brother doesn't mean that the rest of us will ever back down from a fight with him or his cousins. You were the one who got us all geared up to attack the charmed ones in the first place. If you try to stand in our way it may be you who gets vanquished."

Then Ronan stepped into a wall of fire that appeared behind him and disappeared. Drake spun around to face his demonic brother. The two looked at each other. They both looked confused for a moment. Then Drake remembered why he was there. He remembered what he had come to search for his brother for.

"You have to undo it, Dax," he breathed.

"You are not safe here, Drake," said Dax in reply. He grabbed Drake's hand and shimmered them back to Halliwell Manor. They stood in the sun room. The sun had actually gone down. The lights were on, and Dean and Damon came into the room moments after Drake and Dax materialized.

"In the light, darkness hides . . ." they started together, but Drake formed an energy ball in his right hand and a fire ball in his left.

"I don't have time for this," grumbled Dax. "I informed Ronan that you are not to be touched. I can't guarantee your protection, Drake, but I will kill any demon who attacks you. You are my brother. If I can't turn you evil, and I suspect that I can't, then I will at least respect our mother enough to make sure that I do everything I can to protect you. I'm sorry about your . . . Aaron. Had I known he meant that much to you I'd have done things differently. I assure you that what you're asking me to do is impossible. If you and your cousins can't rewind time to bring him back, then I'm afraid that he is lost."

With that, Dax shimmered out, and Drake was left staring at the space where he'd been. It had been anger driving him until that moment. When he realized that his brother had told him the truth, all of the anger seeped out of him until there was nothing left but raw sorrow. He sank to his knees as the tears began to fall again.

Memories of all of the happy times he'd shared with Aaron flooded through his mind. His breath hitched as Dean rushed to his side and took him in his arms. He held him there, whispering in his ear that everything would be all right. Damon was shocked when Drake shimmered himself and Dean away. He was worried that Drake had taken Dean to the underworld, but then he heard them upstairs.

"There has to be a way, Dean," sobbed Drake once they'd materialized on Drake's bed. His shoulders shook with his sobs, tears streaked his face, and his pleading eyes bored into Dean.

"Oh, buddy if there was a way to do it, I'd help you," replied Dean. "I swear I'd help you."

"I can't do this without Aaron," Drake cried and then let his head fall onto his pillow.

"Yes you can," whispered Dean as he held his younger cousin in his arms. "You're not alone, Drake. Damon and I will be with you. We'll help you through this."

"Shh," soothed Dean. "Dax is back in the underworld, and you're the only one of us that knows how to get there. He's safe from us."

"Damon will try . . ."

"No he won't," insisted Dean. "Drake, Dax just vowed to protect you. Why would we vanquish a demon determined to kill any other demon that attacked you? The fact that he wants to protect you tells me that there is some good in him somewhere. Maybe Eliza was wrong about not being able to turn him. Maybe he just needs a reason."

He talked with Drake until exhaustion finally won him over. When Drake's breathing became slower and even, Dean gently pried himself out of his cousin's embrace and left the bedroom. He found Damon in the living room, looking into the fireplace. When he sat down beside him, Damon flinched.

"I thought you were Drake," he sighed, raking his fingers through his hair. "He hates me now."

"No he doesn't," replied Dean. "He's worried that you hate him."

"I don't hate him," stated Damon. "After what he's been through today I wouldn't be a good cousin if I hated him for saying things he doesn't mean."

"Oh, he meant what he said," murmured Dean. "Damon, we can't vanquish Dax."

"I know that," sighed Damon. "After his vow to protect Drake, why would I even want to kill him?"

"I see we think alike," chuckled Dean.

"How do we help him through this?" Damon asked, looking at Dean for the first time since he sat down.

"We listen when he needs to talk," said Dean. "We offer him a shoulder to cry on when he needs one."

"We summon my mother," said Drake's voice from behind them, startling both of them and making them jump.

They stood up and turned to face him. His face was still tear streaked, and his eyes were filled with sorrow. Dean wondered if Eliza could really help him now. Drake had never met his mother, so Dean didn't know what she could say to him to ease his pain. However if Drake wanted to summon his mother, then Dean wasn't about to tell him no.

The cousins went up to the attic together. Dean searched the book for the spell that would summon Eliza while Drake watched him. Damon remembered how Mr. Pollock had summoned their grandfather, so he placed six white candles in a circle on the floor in front of the book. As he lit them, he heard Dean say that he'd found what he was looking for. He joined his cousins at the book and focused his thoughts on his mother.

"Hear these words, hear my cry. Spirit from the other side come to me, I summon thee. Cross now the great divide," they said together, and what looked like balls of white light swirled in the circle of candles. Then a figure stood inside the ring of light. Once the light was gone, a shadowy version of Eliza Halliwell stood before them.

"Drake," said the blond haired ghost as she smiled. "You have no idea how proud of you I am."

She stepped forward, out of the circle of candles, and she became as solid as the cousins. This was something they didn't expect, but Drake was happier than he'd been in a while just to see his mother standing in front of him. He didn't know exactly what he wanted to say to her, but he was happy enough just to be looking at her.

"Mother," he said in a voice just above a whisper.

"I know your heart is broken, Drake," she said. "What your brother did was a terrible thing, and I wish that there was a way for magic to bring your lover back."

"I know that I have to accept this, Mother," he said, stepping around the stand that held the book and walking in to her arms.

"My beautiful son," she said, wrapping her arms around him. "A charmed one. You have no idea how proud that makes me."

"What do I do about Dax?" he asked as he began to shiver. Killing his brother wasn't something he believed he could do, yet to leave him alive meant that countless innocents would lose their lives.

"Dax's heart isn't completely black, Drake," she said. "Saving your life and vowing to protect you proves that. I was right to believe that there would be a way to turn him. You can do it if you set your mind to it. Drake, you're a charmed one. With your cousins, the power of three can do marvelous things."

"It can't bring Aaron back," moaned Drake.

"No. I'm sorry, but it can't do that," she agreed. "Death isn't something that magic can fix. There are times when magic can reverse time, but it can't change destiny."

"Aaron was destined to be killed by Dax?" Drake asked, pulling back from her embrace to look into her eyes.

"I can't reveal the path of destiny completely, Drake," she said. "But to ease your mind a little, I can say that Aaron isn't completely gone. His destiny isn't finished."

"Is he a white lighter?" Dean asked.

"I'm afraid I don't know exactly what is going to happen next," she admitted. "I just know that his destiny isn't over." She smiled at them. "The charmed ones. I'm so happy that you're finally together. This is the way it was supposed to be since the day you were born. A powerful force on the side of good."

"But . . ."

"Your powers?" she asked, cutting Drake off. He nodded. "Drake, you inherited those powers from the demonic blood that courses through your veins. It isn't strong, but power is power. You are more Halliwell than demon. Don't ever question your motives. It isn't the blood, or the power that is evil. It takes a black heart to be evil. The pain you're feeling is proof that your heart is pure."

"Thank you, Mother," he said, hugging her again.

"There is something that I would like to ask the three of you to do for me," she said, looking at them intently. "A wrong was done by us, your parents. I would like for you to undo it, for only the power of three can undo this."

She stepped over to the book shelf behind the sofa and pulled out a leather bound book. It had the family symbol on it, and it looked ancient. She stood in front of them again and held out the book.

"This was my Book of Shadows," she said. "There is a witch trapped inside this book that we believed was behind a powerful evil. It wasn't until he'd already been bound into the book that we learned that we were wrong. It was Ash that was behind it all, and he only made us believe that David was guilty so that we'd bind him."

"So an innocent witch is bound inside your Book of Shadows?" Dean asked, taking the book from Eliza and looking at it with wonder.

"Yes," she replied miserably. "He isn't dead, but he is lost. We couldn't undo the magic we did. We knew at once that the power of three was needed to release David. There is a spell in the family book that will undo the bonding we did that day."

She took the book back and placed it on the coffee table. She looked back at her son and nephews and smiled when she saw that Dean was already looking in the book to find the spell that would undo the mistake she'd made so long ago. She hoped that they could set David free. She hoped that David could find a way to forgive her for what they'd done to him.

"I've found a spell that I think will work," said Dean. "Its actually a spell that unbinds bound powers, but if we change the wording a bit, it should work."

"How do we know that?" Damon asked. "We've never written a spell before. What if changing the wording of this spell makes it do something we don't want?"

"Trust in yourselves," Eliza explained. "You are the charmed ones. Changing the words of a spell to suit your purpose will do exactly what you want it to do if you just concentrate on your goal."

Dean thought about it for a minute. He knew what she said was true. He didn't know how he knew, but it was true. He looked at the spell in the book and thought about how to make it say what he needed it to say. She'd said that the power of three was needed to undo what she'd done. He knew what he needed to say now. He took the tablet off the side of the book stand and wrote the spell that he wanted to use. The other looked down at it as well.

He took the book off of the coffee table and placed it in the center of the circle of candles. The three cousins stood together and faced the circle.

"The bond which was not to be done. Give us the power to see it undone. With the power of three we set you free," they read out loud together, and the book flashed with white light.

When the white light dissipated, there was a naked man lying in the circle. He was holding the book across his chest as if he'd gone to sleep reading it. At first they thought he was dead, but his chest was rising and falling with the breath of slumber. Dean looked to Eliza for what to do next.

"He's under a sleeping spell," she revealed. "The spell itself is in the book as well as the counter spell. Just cast the counter spell, and David will wake up."

"How long has he been in that book?" Damon asked, looking down at the naked man on the floor. "Will there be any side effects of the spells you cast on him to put him in the book?"

"There shouldn't be," she replied. "He's been in that book since before the three of you were born. I'd only just moved into the manor when we cast that spell."

"I found the spell," said Dean, and the others joined him at the book.

"What was done is now undone. Let this magic take back the mistake. Make sleep abate with every breath he takes," they read, and the naked man moaned.

At the same time, another swirl of white light filled the circle. Another figure appeared in the light. This was a younger man, a teenager. He had dark hair and brown eyes, and he looked a bit like Dean. He looked down at the naked man who's eyes were now open, and fear mixed with confusion warred on his face. He snapped his head up to look at the charmed ones with even more fear and confusion.

"Dad! What did you do?" the young dark haired teen cried, looking right at Dean.

Coming up . . . .

Just who is the teen who showed up in the attic? What will the Elders have to say about Drake's powers? Will Eliza be able to help her son through his pain? And what of David? Who exactly is he? The answers are coming. Look for Chapter Five: A Witch In Time.

Author's Note:

Some spell text in this chapter was borrowed from the television show. Some of the text was changed slightly to suit the purpose of the scene.